Entrepreneurs with deep industry knowledge and an idea for changing an established market can currently apply to Pinecone Group, a European venture-studio platform operating across Stockholm, Oslo and London.

Unlike a conventional venture capital fund that waits for founders to arrive with a finished company and fundraising deck, Pinecone is designed to work with entrepreneurs from day zero.

The firm helps founders validate ideas, build products, speak with customers, develop go-to-market strategies and eventually fund companies that demonstrate real commercial potential.

Pinecone’s official website currently displays a live “Build with us” application, meaning founders can submit directly.

What Is Pinecone Group?

Pinecone Group describes itself as a European venture platform combining a venture studio and investment capital.

Its teams operate across Stockholm, Oslo and London.

The model is based on co-building businesses with founders rather than providing money and leaving the entrepreneur to execute alone.

Pinecone says its team contains operators who have previously built, scaled and exited companies.

Its support can include legal, product development, go-to-market strategy, finance, network access and capital.

Who Should Consider Pinecone?

Pinecone can be especially relevant to people who have strong insight into an industry but may not yet have a complete startup.

You might be:

• An experienced operator who has repeatedly seen a problem inside your industry;
• A clinician with insight into a healthcare problem;
• A technical founder with a product idea;
• A commercial founder searching for technical support;
• An entrepreneur already validating an early concept;
• A founder looking for an experienced venture-building partner.

Pinecone’s model means an applicant does not necessarily need to arrive with significant revenue or a fully established team.

The current website starts from the question: “Do you have an idea?”

How Does Pinecone Build Companies?

Its public model is divided into three broad stages.

0-1 Start

The first stage is validation.

Pinecone works with founders to test whether the problem is real before significant time or money is committed.

This can involve customer conversations, prototype testing and assessing whether the market provides genuine evidence of demand.

If the opportunity does not appear strong enough, the team says it will communicate that quickly rather than encouraging founders to spend months building the wrong product.

1-10 Sprint

Once the opportunity has been validated, the focus shifts to traction.

The team works with the founder to improve the product, speak with customers and identify a repeatable way of generating demand and revenue.

This is where assumptions begin to turn into commercial evidence.

10-100 Scale

Once meaningful traction exists, Pinecone can invest in companies built within its studio.

The founder continues to lead the company while Pinecone stays involved with capital, introductions and operational support.

How Much Does Pinecone Invest?

Pinecone’s main website currently describes funding from validation through growth but does not publish one universal cheque size applying to every founder.

However, its current founder outreach provides useful evidence of the type of capital available for some opportunities.

In September 2026, a Pinecone partner publicly stated that the group is seeking founders in women’s health and can invest £450,000 or more at pre-seed, alongside operational support and co-founder matching where required.

That amount should not be interpreted as a guaranteed standard cheque for every Pinecone company.

Investment terms and capital will depend on the opportunity, development stage and studio arrangement.

What Areas Is Pinecone Interested In?

Pinecone’s current positioning focuses on founders rebuilding established industries through technology, artificial intelligence, deep tech and new business models.

Its website currently highlights internally built companies in areas including:

• Artificial intelligence;
• B2B SaaS;
• Healthcare software.

The wider team has also publicly referenced expertise and activity across fintech, healthtech and software.

The women’s-health founder search is a current focus, but Pinecone explicitly says it still wants to hear from strong domain experts building in other sectors.

What Does Pinecone Want from Founders?

The strongest applicant is likely to have unusually strong knowledge of the problem.

Pinecone’s women’s-health outreach provides a good example.

The firm says it wants founders who have “lived and breathed” the industry, whether as clinicians, researchers, operators or commercial leaders.

Technical ability can help, but domain expertise and insight into how the market really works are central.

This philosophy applies more broadly.

A founder should be able to explain:

• The problem;
• Why existing solutions fail;
• Why they understand the issue deeply;
• Which customers experience the pain;
• Why the opportunity exists now;
• What could make the business large.

What If You Do Not Have a Co-Founder?

Pinecone’s model can still be relevant.

Its current founder outreach states that co-founder matching may be available where required.

This differs substantially from ordinary VC funds, which usually expect a company and founding team to exist before the investor becomes involved.

However, applicants should still expect Pinecone to evaluate whether they have the leadership ability, commitment and expertise required to become the CEO or senior founder of a venture.

The 1 Million SEK Buildathon

Some founders may have discovered Pinecone through its 2026 Buildathon in Visby.

The event selected approximately 40 builders for a 24-hour startup-building challenge and offered the possibility of a SEK 1 million investment from Pinecone Ventures.

That particular application period has already closed.

It should not be presented as a currently open grant or competition.

The active opportunity now is Pinecone Group’s general founder application through its new unified European venture platform.

Is Pinecone Funding a Grant?

No.

Pinecone is a venture studio and investor.

The capital it provides should be understood as startup investment connected with building and scaling a company, not free grant funding.

Founders should carefully review equity, governance, founder ownership and studio terms before signing an agreement.

How to Apply

Pinecone Group’s current official website has a direct Build with us application.

There is no publicly stated annual closing date for the general founder application.

Apply to build a company with Pinecone Group

For founders who want more than a cheque, Pinecone offers a different proposition from a typical VC firm.

You bring the industry insight and ambition. Pinecone’s model is to bring experienced operators, infrastructure, network and capital alongside you from the beginning.

For the right entrepreneur, especially one with strong domain expertise but still early in the company-building journey, that can be more useful than trying to raise a conventional pre-seed round alone.